Pressure-fluid motor



J. E. PFEFFER.-

PRESSURE FLUID MOTOR. Mmc/mon man 14m29.191s.

I. E. PFEFFER.

i PRESSURE FLIIII) IIIoToR.y

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 191s. A1,1:OO,2.36, Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Iliff/[1111111111111111111/ PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN EDWARD PFEFFER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

rRnssnRE-FLUID Moron.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it vknown that I, JOHN EDWARD Prnrrnr, a citizen otthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State oc Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pressure- F luid Motors, ol' which the following is a specication. y

This invention relates to motors or engines employing steam or other exp'ansible pressure liuid as the motive power thereof, and has for its objectto provide certain new and useful improvements in the type oi' motors or engines which employ oscillatory cylinders,'whereby a simplified power connection may be employed' between the piston and the crank shaft, and simplified valve operating mechanism may be employed. In this connection my invention obviates the employment of the usual cross-head and pivotal rod connections, and I ,am also enabled to provide simple and compact vvalve actuating mechanism, all or' which especially adapts the engine or motor for .use on motor vehicles or in any other place where it is desirable to have an engine working in a small and as compact-spaceas possible.

Another object ot the invention is the Ypro,- vision oi a power unit which is simple and eiiicient in operation and which will get the utmost amount of power trom a minimum amount of steam.

rEhese and other objects of the invention will be more fully and better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and in which 1Figure l is a plan view partially in section of an engine or motor embodying the features of the present invention;

F ig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the motor on lines 2 2 of F ig.`1; F ig. 8 is a sectional view of the motor through one of the cylinders on line 8 8 1Eig. 4 is a side elevation of the valve op-l Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 29,

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

191s. serial No. 237,209.

refer to like parts throughout, I provide a case or housing 10 within which the power unit is mounted and having suitable connections 18 and 14 by means of which the housing can be secured to the axle housing ol a vehicle. The housing 10 on its upper side has secured thereto a hand-hole 15 and can be suspended from the vehicle at its rear by means of a connecting strap 15a or any other portion desired and in any manner desired. YThe housing 10 comprises two sections, an upper and lower, secured together by means of bolts such as 12 passing through holes 16 formed in ears or projections 17 along the marginal edges of each ol the sections of the housing 10. Suitable journal bearing openings hereinafter described, are also provided in the housing or casing. Mounted upon a suitable base18 formed integrally with the case 10 is a valve or steam chest 19 and held securely in position by means of bolts 20, 20, the top of the base 18 being curved slightly and the base 22 of the valve chest 19 also being curved to conform to the shape of the base 18. Mounted within the chamber Jformed by the case 10 I provide a pair of steam cylinders 28 and 24, each of said cylinders on its outside having a hollow integral projection 25 and 26 suitably mounted withinbearings 27 and 28, the bearings 27 and 28 iitting snugly within suitable openings in the casing 10 and each of said bearings having an annular shoulder 29 and 80 for engagement against the inner wall of the casing 10 so as to be held firmly in position. Exhaust pipes 81 and 82 leading to any desired point away from the cylinders are located within the hollow projections 25 and 26 and serve to carry away the exhaust steam or gases from the cylinders, as hereinafter described. In threaded engagement with the outer ends of the hollow projections 25 and 26 I provide nuts 88 and 84C with suitable packing such as 85 interposed between the ends of the projections 25 and 26 and the said nuts so as to provide a steam tight joint. Each of the cylinders 28 and 24 on its inner side has a circular head or projection 87 and 88 which fits into corresponding openings in the steam or valve chest 19 so as to allow each of the cylinders 28 and 24 to oscillate while the steam or valve chest 19 remains in a stationary position with respect to the cylinders. Encircling the heads 37 and 28 in suitable grooves and between the bearing surfaces of the said heads and the steam chest 19 is a pair 0f ordinary expansive pls: ton rings 39 and 40 so as to prevent any leakage of steam in the bearing joint be tween the cylinders and steam chest. Suit= ablymountedwithin the valve chest 19 and upon valve stems 41 and 42 is a pair of slide valves 43 and 44, the valverods 41 and 42' being mounted within suitable guideways with bushings 45 and 46 secured to the valve chest. and'packed. in the usual mannelto. pre.-

vent steam from escaping around the valve. stems 41 and 42. Secured to each of the` valves 43 and 44 and extending rearwardly is a pair of valve stems 47 and 48 workingwithin circular guideways 45 and 46 the;

guideways being closed by threaded nuts 47 and V48. Passageways 49 and 50 extend lon.

gitudinally of the valve rods 47 land 48 to allow the escape of any steam from the rear closed portion of the guideways 45 and 46.

'The valves 43 and 441 are mounted s0 that.

the balanced type rand avoids the friction` produced between the valve and the cylinder in the ordinary type of slide valve by the pressure of the steam upon the valves. The.

valves4 43 and 44 have vertical openings 51,

52, extending therethrough with transverse.

communicating ports 53, 54, respectively extending through their outside walls to allow steam to pass into the cylinders through in-A take ports 55V and 56 and 55a andf56a Vprovided in each of the cylinders. Each` of said cylinders 23 and 24 has a reciprocating pis?.

ton located therein, the said pistonscomprlsing pistonrods 57, 58, to which are secured piston heads 59, 60, in any manner. desired.V Piston rings 61, 61,' lit around the piston heads 'in the usual manner to insure tighty tting of the piston heads and prevent Vleakage of steam. Cylinder heads 62, 63, in.

threaded engagement with the cylinders are mounted upon the cylinders in the usual manner. Bushings 65, 66, secured to the cylinders by means of bolts 67, 67, hold the packingA 68 surrounding the piston rods in position and afford tight joints preventing Y leakage of steam around the piston rods.

A crank shaft 69 extends transversely of the case 10 at its front portion and is mounted at its ends within journal bearings 70, 71, in any suitable manner. The piston rods 57 and 58 at their front endsare; secured directly to the crank shaft 69 by means of.

any suitable connection, but preferably as shown in the drawing, the piston rods having enlarged portions or heads 72, 73,V integral therewith. Straps 74V and 75 securedwto the head portions of the pistons by means .of..bolts 76,76, hold the pistons securely in engagement with the crank shaft.

VBall' bearings .77 are interposed between the crank shaft 69 and the bearing surface of eachof therpiston rods. A suitable gear wheel 7 8 is mounted upon the crank shaft 69 soV that' it'will'- mesh wit-h the transmission gear of an Ordinary vehicle such as an automobileor truck, the power of the engine thus beingtransmitted to the vehicle. i The .valverods 41 and 42 have heads at their front ends 79, 80, secured theretoin any suitable` manner, the heads 79 and 80 being held in operative relation with .links 81 and 82 by means of bolts 83 and 84, the connection being such that Van oscillating movement of the links can takey place, `one ofV suchlinksand` connections being illustratedv in ,Fig 4.. Thelinks are connected at eachofv their ends by rods such as 85 and 86 -whiclrare in turn secured by means ofk a head' portion 66a-and straps `66 to eccentrics-V 64` a`nd`64a mountedupon the crank shaftj69 in any suitable manner, one of the .ecc-entries. being turned in advance of the otherin'theusual manner so as to give an oscillatingorrocking movement to the links 8l`and82.. In-the walls -of the cylinders Iprovide passages 67 extending circumferentially of 'the Vcylinder for a short distance and communicating with anotherpassage 88 extending longitudinally of thev cylinders tov the` ends. thereof and through which steam is.. admitted to the cylinders under control ofthevalves 43 and 44 and' through theV intakev ports. 55 and 561 and 55a and 56'a inthecylinders.A The steam is thus car-v ried for a short. distance circumferentially aroundthe cylinders,.this arrangement of theports enablingme to position the cylinders-` more compactly and secure .a closer andbetter arrangement ofthe ports. LocatedV centrally of each cylinder provide a plurality of exhaust ports 89, which communicate withfa passage 91 in the wallsof the cylindersand whichextend circumferentially around theicylinder and lead to the exhaust pipe 31 and'32. It will be thus understood that as the cylinder head reaches point toward the end of each stroke the exhaust ports are uncovered and a free passage afforded for the escape of the-steam to the atmosphere or to a condenser. A. steam supply pipe 92 extends through the top of the housing 10 and connects with the steam or valve `chest 19. An opening 90 fis provided in-.the-bottom of the case 10in order that .drainagegof the case may be made.

AItiwill. also. be understood that by providing a stationary steam or valve chest within which the valves reciprocate in a horizontal plane exactly at right angles to the vertical plane of the crank shaft coupled with the oscillation of the cylinders the action of the valves in cutting off the steam is very much quickened and wire drawing of the steam is thus avoided. I am thus able to use the steam expansively to a greater degree by reason of the quick action of the valves in cutting olf the steam at any particular point in the stroke of the pistons. It will be understood that by the use of the valve actuating mechanism which I show and describe, the admission of the steam to the cylinders may be controlled, and that the steam through the cylinders may be cut off at any point desired, thus securing the benefit of the expansive power of the steam to a greater extent than if the steam were allowed to flow into the cylinders for the full length of the stroke of the piston.

It will also be noted that the pistons are connected tothe crank shaft at right angles with respect to each other and are entirely separate and independent of each other, as far as their working is concerned. And it will be further understood that any number of cylinders can be coupled up in the same manner as the pair of cylinders which I have illustrated and described in order to provide a working unit of any size desired.

I/Vhile I have described more or less precisely the details of construction, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I contemplate changes in form and the proportion of parts and the substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or render expedient without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

l. A motor comprising a crank shaft, an oscillating cylinder having a piston and a direct connection between the piston and a crank of the crank shaft, a stationary pressure fluid chest supported independently of the cylinder and provided with a circular socket opening into the chest, the cylinder having an external cylindrical boss mounted to oscillate in the socket and provided with an inlet port, a slide valve mounted in the chest in coperative relation with the inlet port and working in the general direction of the reciprocating movement of the piston, and valve actuating means, the passage of pressure fluid through the inlet port being controlled by the joint movements of the cylinder and the valve.

2. A motor comprisinga crank shaft, an oscillating cylinder having a piston and a direct connection between the piston and a crank of the crank shaft, a stationary pressure fluid chest supported independently of the cylinder and provided with a circular socket opening into the chest, the cylinder having an external cylindrical boss mounted to oscillate in the socket and provided with an inlet port, a slide valve mounted in the chest in cooperative relation with the inlet port and working in the general direction of the reciprocating movement of the piston, and valve actuating means, the passage of pressure fluid through the inlet port being controlled by the joint movements of the cylinder and the valve, the cylinder being provided with an exhaust port controlled by the piston.

3. A motor comprising a crank shaft having a pair of cranks, a pair of oscillatory cylinders provided with pistons having direct connections with the respective cranks, a stationary pressure fluid chest located between the cylinders and provided at opposite sides with circular sockets, each cylinder having a circular boss rotatably mounted within the adjacent socket of the steam chest and provided with an inlet port, a pair of slide valves mounted in the chest in coperative relation with the inlet ports of the respective cylinders and in mutual slidable engagement, said valves working in the general direction of movement of the pistons, and valve actuating means associated with the crank shaft, the passage of pressure fluid through the ports being controlled by the joint movements of the cylinder and the respective valves.

et. A motor comprising a crank shaft having a pair of cranks, a pair of oscillatory cylinders provided with pistons having direct connections with the respective cranks,

a stationary pressure fluid chest located between the cylinders and provided at opposite sides with circular sockets, each cylinder having a circular boss rotatably mounted within the adjacent socket of the chest and provided with an inlet port, a pair of slide valves mounted in the chest in coperative relation with the inlet ports of the respective cylinders and in mutual slidable engagement, said valves working in the general direction of movement of the pistons, and valve actuating means associated with the crank shaft, the passage of pressure fluid through the ports being controlled by the joint movements of the cylinders and the respective valves, each cylinder being provided at its outer side with a hollow trunnion and an exhaust port leading into said trunnion, the exhaust port being controlled by the piston, and a bearing for each of said trunnions.

5. A motor comprising a crank shaft, an oscillatory cylinder provided at opposite sides with trunnions, one of the trunnions having an inlet port, the other trunnion being hollow and constituting an exhaust port, a bearing for said hollow trunnion, a stationary pressure Huid chest havingY a socket receiving the trunnion having the inlet port and constituting a bearing for said trunnion, a slide Valve mounted in the Chest and controlling the inlet port and Working in the general direction of movement of the piston, and valve actuating means associated With the joint movements of the cylinder and the l0 valve.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois', this 25th day of May, 1918. y I

JOHN EDWARD PFEFFER. 

